RRND Email Full Text (Scheduled)

  • Myanmar: Junta courts sentence activists up to 37 years over election boycott protest

    Source: ABC News

    “Courts in Myanmar have sentenced nine activists to up to 37 years in prison for involvement in a protest calling for a boycott of the elections last December, an activist group said Wednesday. May Hnin, a spokesperson for the Anti-Junta Forces Coordination Committee-Mandalay, said eight members including prominent activist Htet Myat Aung were sentenced to 37 years on Tuesday by two courts in Mandalay, the country’s second-largest city, after being convicted under the electoral law and counterterrorism Law. A ninth activist was sentenced to 27 years after being convicted under the counterterrorism law, she said. Htet Myat Aung and the others were arrested days after staging a flash protest in downtown Mandalay on Dec. 3 calling on the public to reject the elections, abolish the military conscription law and release political prisoners detained after the military seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021.” (07/29/26)

    https://abcnews.com/International/wireStory/myanmar-courts-sentence-activists-37-years-election-boycott-135195224

  • Uganda: Political prisoner Besigye collapses in the dock during treason trial

    Source: Seattle Times

    “Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye appeared to collapse in court on Wednesday during a trial in which he is facing treason charges. Besigye, 69, who has been detained without bail for several months, shouted the word ‘stop’ many times before he fell backward in the dock. The court proceedings were postponed as prison guards moved to attend to the high-profile defendant. Besigye, a four-time presidential candidate, has been repeatedly denied bail. His main attorney, Erias Lukwago, has also been arrested and charged with alleged failure to report acts of treason. In recent days, prosecutors have moved to present evidence they say will prove Besigye and others plotted to overthrow the government of President Yoweri Museveni.” (07/29/26)

    https://archive.is/BeZzY

  • Yemen: Saudi puppet regime accuses Houthis of planning Red Sea transit fee system under Iranian guidance

    Source: mint [India]

    “Yemen’s government has accused the Iran-backed Houthi rebels [sic] of working with Tehran to establish a system for charging fees to commercial vessels transiting the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab Strait, describing the alleged plan as a major threat to global shipping and energy markets. Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani said on Wednesday (July 29) that recently obtained intelligence indicated Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was helping the Houthis create a technical and administrative framework to collect payments from shipping companies using one of the world’s busiest maritime corridors. … Reuters reported that senior Houthi officials travelled to Iran in July to attend the funeral of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, where Iranian officials discussed the possibility of introducing transit charges for ships passing through the Bab el-Mandeb.” (07/29/26)

    https://www.livemint.com/news/world/yemen-government-accuses-houthis-of-planning-red-sea-transit-fee-system-under-iranian-guidance-11785328543296.html

  • Four women accuse Leto of sexual offenses when they were teens

    Source: CBS News

    “Four women speaking to CBS News’ partner network the BBC have accused actor and band frontman Jared Leto of criminal sexual conduct when they were teenagers. One woman said the Oscar-winning actor and ‘Thirty Seconds to Mars’ band frontman sexually assaulted her in a motel when she was 17, while another told the BBC said she had sex with Leto in California when she was the same age — which would qualify as statutory rape. A third woman told the BBC that Leto threatened her with sexual assault when she was 19 while she was alone with him in a hotel room. Another alleges the star groomed her as a teenager, on one occasion suggesting they should have sex. … Leto has been plagued by allegations of sexual misconduct for years, but has denied all wrongdoing. No criminal charges have ever been filed against him.” (07/29/26)

    https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jared-leto-women-accuse-us-actor-sexual-offenses-bbc-documentary/

  • France: Regime issues expulsion order against Russian TV star Xenia Fedorova

    Source: Politico

    “French authorities have moved to expel from the country Xenia Fedorova, a Russian media star who has courted controversy for her pro-Kremlin narrative. Fedorova, the former head of the Kremlin-backed RT France news outlet, was handed an expulsion order by the Paris Prefecture of Police, which handles immigration matters for foreigners living in the French capital, according to a report by French newspaper Libération published Wednesday that was confirmed by POLITICO. ‘By spreading her narratives, [Xenia Fedorova] acts as a conduit for disinformation campaigns led by Russian authorities,’ with the aim of ‘destabilizing public order’ in France, reads the document, seen by Libération. It also accuses Fedorova of ‘contribut[ing] to the spread of disinformation and destabilization’ in order to manipulate public opinion.” (07/29/26)

    https://www.politico.eu/article/france-issues-expulsion-order-pro-kremlin-xenia-fedorova

  • CA: Man accused of intentionally running over regime surveillance cameras, caught on regime surveillance cameras

    Source: San Francisco Chronicle

    “A California man accused of deliberately damaging automated license plate readers was identified with the help of other surveillance cameras near the devices, authorities said Tuesday. Marcus Bee, 40, of Pismo Beach, was arrested on suspicion of felony vandalism after investigators linked him to damage involving at least three Flock Safety cameras in Monterey County, the county sheriff’s office said.” (07/28/26)

    https://www.sfchronicle.com/california/article/flock-camera-vandalism-arrest-22364531.php

  • OpenAI says the rogue agent that hacked Hugging Face also breached other services

    Source: Engadget

    “OpenAI has updated its blog post about the rogue agent that breached Hugging Face and admitted that it also infiltrated other other third-party accounts and services to achieve its goal. In the updated post, the company said it has been finding ‘a small number of cases where the models identified and used publicly exposed credentials at the account-level on other publicly-available services’ during its ongoing review. So far, it has determined that the rogue agent used the credentials of ‘four accounts’ to infiltrate ‘four services’ as part of the Hugging Face incident. It also said that it accessed a ‘few accounts’ as part of other evaluations.” (07/29/26)

    https://www.engadget.com/2225812/openai-rogue-agent-hacked-hugging-face-breached-other-services/

  • KS: High school teacher dragged out, arrested for clapping at city meeting over proposed data center

    Source: New York Post

    “A Kansas high school teacher was arrested and dragged out of a contentious city zoning meeting for continuously clapping in opposition to a proposed data center. Lux Claridge was yanked out of a chair by three police officers and carried out of the Emporia City Commission meeting on July 22 for seemingly disobeying the mayor’s orders regarding clapping against the controversial Flint Hills Digital Campus data center proposed in Emporia, Kansas, the Emporia Police said. … Several oppositionists gave comments and testimonials against the 1,000-acre, gigawatt-scale project that garnered rounds of applause, which provoked one board official to call for order against the clapping that was ‘rude and disruptive.'” (07/29/26)

    https://nypost.com/2026/07/29/us-news/kansas-high-school-teacher-lux-claridge-dragged-out-arrested-for-clapping-at-city-meeting-over-proposed-data-center/

  • US Regime Bans Foreign-Made Humanoid Robots, Tries to Kill Increased Solar Adoption

    Source: US News & World Report

    “The U.S. Federal Communications Commission is banning imports of new foreign-made humanoid robots and power inverters, citing national security risks, in a move that targets China. The measures are likely to test relations with Beijing ahead of a planned U.S. visit by Chinese leader Xi Jinping to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump in September. China dominates the global market for humanoid robots with an estimated market share of roughly 85%. The FCC’s ban also includes new imports of quadruped robots – often referred to as four-legged robot dogs. … The ban on power inverters, which are used to convert direct current (DC) electricity into alternating current (AC) electricity and are used in renewable energy systems, data centers and household appliances, could have sweeping ramifications.” (07/29/26)

    https://www.usnews.com/news/business/articles/2026-07-29/us-bans-foreign-made-humanoid-robots-targeting-china-over-national-security

  • Kenya: Mysterious deaths of elephants prompt urgent inquiry

    Source: BBC News [UK state media]

    “An urgent investigation has been launched into the mysterious deaths of 15 elephants in southern Kenya near the Amboseli National Park. The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) told the BBC that experts were examining the carcasses and said that tissue samples had been sent to laboratories to determine whether the deaths were caused by disease, poisoning or another factor. The park and its surrounds are known as the Amboseli ecosystem, a vast area that straddles the border with Tanzania, which is famous for its wildlife. Officials say this is the first time in decades that elephant mortalities on this scale have been recorded in the region where they have successfully cracked down on poaching.” (07/29/26)

    https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3w0d7yeqlxo


  • When Science Becomes a State Religion

    Source: Mindset Shifts
    by Barry Brownstein

    “[US Senator Rand] Paul has exposed a side of Dr. Fauci that his admirers prefer not to see: the narcissism of a public official who became accustomed to applause, deference, and celebrity treatment. … Yes, Dr. Fauci has the emotional IQ of an eight-year-old, which would be only his problem if he didn’t use the coercive power of government to harm millions of Americans as well as destroy countless businesses. That is the personal vanity side of the story. The deeper problem is institutional: once government officials are treated as arbiters of scientific truth, dissent becomes a political offense rather than a normal part of inquiry. The issue was never only Fauci; it was the state power that allowed one official consensus to become compulsory.” (07/29/26)

    https://mindsetshifts.substack.com/p/when-science-becomes-a-state-religion

  • Good rule of thumb: Mind your business

    Source: Eastern New Mexico News
    by Kent McManigal

    “People who believe they have a right to not see or hear something they don’t like are one of the biggest roadblocks to liberty. They imagine they have a right to not be offended. This nonexistent right is more important to them than letting others use their own property as they wish. Offense is subjective. What offends you doesn’t offend others. Something about you offends someone. It sets a dangerous precedent to attack others based on what offends you. Being offended is a personal character problem, not a condition that creates a right to control someone else.” (07/29/26)

    https://www.easternnewmexiconews.com/story/2026/07/29/voices/opinion-good-rule-of-thumb-mind-your-business/233907.html

  • The US Immigration System Is Not Broken

    Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
    by Jacob G Hornberger

    “I recently received an email from the ACLU stating that America’s immigration-control system is ‘fundamentally broken’ and needs a ‘total overhaul.’ … the ACLU has it wrong. The fact is that America’s immigration-control system is not broken. Instead, what most Americans still cannot bring themselves to see, even after 100 years of chaos, is that their beloved immigration-control system is inherently defective.” (07/29/26)

    https://www.fff.org/2026/07/29/the-u-s-immigration-system-is-not-broken/

  • Inside the Emerging Microcollege Movement

    Source: Foundation for Economic Education
    by Kerry McDonald

    “Thoreau College is one of several microcolleges that have opened in recent years, offering intentionally small, immersive programming and expanding the landscape of higher education possibilities. As the higher education sector struggles with declining public confidence, enrollment challenges and institutional closures, microcolleges emerge as a creative, collaborative model for post-secondary education.” (07/29/26)

    https://fee.org/articles/inside-the-emerging-microcollege-movement/

  • “Pink” Prices Aren’t Prejudice

    Source: The Daily Economy
    by Matthew Blakey

    “The idea of a ‘pink tax,’ that women commonly pay more for equivalent goods, has sparked public debate and inspired various policy proposals. This concept gained prominence after the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs released its 2015 report From Cradle to Cane: The Cost of Being a Female Consumer, describing many examples of women’s products costing more than nearly identical men’s products. While the report documented many cases of women paying more than men for similar products, the causes of these differences are more complicated than the notion of a straightforward tax. Understanding how prices emerge in a market economy offers another way to interpret these disparities.” (07/29/26)

    https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/pink-prices-arent-prejudice/

  • New York wants to govern Iowa and Missouri — we’re suing to stop it cold

    Source: Fox News

    “U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis famously called the states ‘laboratories of democracy.’ In those laboratories, Iowans shape Iowa’s laws, Missourians make Missouri’s laws, and New Yorkers establish New York’s laws. That is a core tenet of federalism — a structural part of our nation’s Constitution that allows for great variation and competition between the states. What a state can’t do, however, is lay claim to the entire country as its laboratory. That’s exactly what New York is trying to do. Its new greenhouse gas reporting rule requires ‘fuel suppliers’ throughout the nation to register with New York and report information related to greenhouse gas emissions. But the rule doesn’t just concern companies doing business in the Empire State. New York has made clear that its new regulation applies to any ethanol and biodiesel producers whose product may, after being blended or sold by others, eventually end up in New York.” (07/29/26)

    https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/new-york-wants-govern-iowa-missouri-suing-stop-cold

  • A tax system that fines the behaviour that growth requires

    Source: Adam Smith Institute
    by Madsen Pirie

    “If the planning system is an inherited failure of land, the tax code contains an equally striking inherited failure of transactions, taxes that were reasonable revenue-raising devices in their moment and have become, in their present form, penalties on the specific behaviours a mobile, productive economy most needs. Stamp Duty Land Tax is the clearest case. It is a tax levied at the point of moving house, which means it is a tax on exactly the behaviour that lets people move to where the jobs are, that lets an ageing couple downsize and free up family-sized housing for the families who need it, that lets a growing firm’s employees relocate without a punitive toll standing between them and the move.” (07/29/26)

    https://www.adamsmith.org/blog/a-tax-system-that-fines-the-behaviour-that-growth-requires

  • Churchill and Trump: The Lions in Winter

    Source: The Realist Review
    by Martin Sieff

    “Winston Churchill is still revered in Britain and by old-generation American conservatives and Make America Great Again (MAGA) patriots alike, as the epitome of an all-wise, brilliantly successful Warlord. The truth was the precise opposite, as the great Anglo-American biographer and historian Nigel Hamilton documents in his classic trilogy of books on President Franklin Roosevelt’s wartime leadership …. as the war drew to a close, Churchill was indeed a Lion in Winter. He was an old fool – and recognized as such by both FDR and Josef Stalin at the fateful Tehran Conference of October 1943. … Now the United States is similarly blessed with its own Lion in Winter.” (07/29/26)

    https://therealistreview.substack.com/p/churchill-and-trump-the-lions-in

  • What Pope Leo Can Teach Liberals About Power

    Source: The Nation
    by Felipe de la Hoz

    “As he ascended the steps of St. Peter’s Basilica for his public introduction, the Chicago-born pope was already caught between constituencies that wanted to build on Francis’s transformations and those intent on turning back the clock. Archconservative elements of the church eager to take back the reins after a decade-plus of Francis were initially mollified by Leo’s ‘traditional’ presentation. Less of a public firebrand than his mentor, he cut a diplomatic figure that a friend memorably called ‘a dignified middle of the road.’ But the most hard-line traditionalists proved impossible to satisfy. The fringe, ultraconservative Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX), long a thorn in the Vatican’s side, forced a showdown earlier this month. Dignified, middle-of-the-road Leo responded by unilaterally excommunicating not only the leaders but potentially adherents of the order.” (07/29/26)

    https://www.thenation.com/article/society/society-sspx-excommunication-schism-leo-catholic/

  • They Geofenced the Pews

    Source: Libertarian Institute
    by Thomas Karat

    “In late September 2025, a San Diego firm called Show Faith by Works, LLC registered with the Justice Department as a foreign agent of the State of Israel. The filing it submitted under the Foreign Agents Registration Act laid out, in its own promotional language, the largest Christian Church Geofencing Campaign in U.S. history: a plan to draw digital perimeters around every major church in California, Arizona, Nevada and Colorado during worship hours, and around Christian colleges on weekdays, then to track attendees and hit their phones with ads. The contract ran to roughly $3.2 million, with a ceiling reported as high as $4.1 million. … The deepest libertarian objection here is not about Israel. It is about the individual conscience, and what it means to operate on it from the outside without its owner’s awareness.” (07/29/26)

    https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/they-geofenced-the-pews

  • The Dangerous Precedent Behind the Shiloh Hendrix Verdict

    Source: The American Spectator
    by Scott McKay

    “Nobody wants to be stuck defending white people who use the N-word at black people. Since the 1970s, if not further back than that, to do so indicates poor breeding, poor manners, and poor character. We should all know better. And in Rochester, Minnesota, last year, a woman named Shiloh Hendrix committed exactly that social transgression. … after a trial which — to be charitable — could have been better-run, Shiloh Hendrix was convicted on a misdemeanor count of disturbing the peace for having dropped an N-bomb on someone who was filming her. And now we’ve got people talking about Shiloh Hendrix and having a debate over the use of the N-word and just how unacceptable it is. Do we need this debate? Maybe a little more than we thought.” (07/28/26)

    https://spectator.org/scott-mckay-dangerous-precedent-behind-the-shiloh-hendrix-verdict/

  • Democracy and the Founders’ Constitution

    Source: Law & Liberty
    by Tal Fortgang

    “As someone who has long profited from and appreciated Roger Pilon’s work, I must admit that I am gratified to see him reckon with my work—however critically—in his recent essay, ‘On the Importance of First Principles.’ I think the root of our disagreement is not that Pilon has first principles and I do not, needless to say, but that we order our principles differently. More precisely, we see principles ordered differently in our Constitution and the system of ordered liberty it instantiates. Pilon is a libertarian, and he thinks our Constitution is, too. … My view is that our constitutional order rests upon the default assumption that at the state level majorities can rule—indeed must rule—limited only by a partly undefined set of rights.” (07/29/26)

    https://lawliberty.org/democracy-and-the-founders-constitution/

  • How To Be An Empire Propagandist

    Source: Caitlin Johnstone
    by Caitlin Johnstone

    “If you want to help the western empire administer war propaganda, one of the best ways to do this is to pretend the violence of empire-targeted governments happens in a vacuum, completely divorced from western imperial agendas.” (07/29/26)

    https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2026/07/29/how-to-be-an-empire-propagandist/

  • Anthony Fauci’s Private Diary and Emails Show He Knew Lockdowns Failed

    Source: Brownstone Institute
    by Ian Miller

    “Sometimes you learn that people are exactly who you think they are. And that may never apply more accurately and comprehensively than it does with Anthony Fauci. Fauci was portrayed, starting in early 2020, as an objective, brilliant, virtually infallible God-like figure. … That’s not an exaggeration; there were Christmas tree ornaments made depicting Fauci as a Pope, there were shrines put up in people’s houses, he was on the cover of various magazines, and he was given a parade of endless, relentlessly glowing media appearances from his fawning, adoring fans. Fans like CNN’s Jake Tapper and Dana Bash. For most critics it was clear almost immediately that these portrayals and friendly media appearances depicted the exact opposite of reality.” (07/29/26)

    https://brownstone.org/articles/anthony-faucis-private-diary-and-emails-show-he-knew-lockdowns-failed/

  • Three things I’ve learned about full-time “influencing”

    Source: Sex and the State
    by Cathy Reisenwitz

    “Let’s get this out of the way first. I have 8k Substack subscribers and 21k Twitter followers. I’m in the top 25% on OnlyFans. If that seems impressive to you, keep reading. If you know that’s what miserable failure looks like, you’re probably good. Close the tab. My expertise is that no one is more motivated to understand an industry than a mofo who can’t hack it, but keeps trying.” (07/29/26)

    https://cathyreisenwitz.substack.com/p/three-things-ive-learned-about-full

  • Trump Keeps Pushing Legally Dubious Tariffs

    Source: Reason
    by Jacob Sullum

    “When you start with a predetermined policy and then go looking for a legal pretext to justify it, you are building on shaky ground. President Donald Trump illustrated that point once again last week, when he announced a third round of broad tariffs after his first two attempts were rejected by federal courts.” (07/29/26)

    https://reason.com/2026/07/29/trump-keeps-pushing-legally-dubious-tariffs/

  • Britain’s Problems Didn’t Begin with Brexit

    Source: The Daily Economy
    by Jason Sorens

    “Brexit disappointed both its critics and supporters, but Britain’s economic malaise runs much deeper than the 2016 referendum.” (07/29/26)

    https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/britains-problems-didnt-begin-with-brexit/

  • Marco Rubio’s “Democratic Hemisphere” vs. the National Security Strategy

    Source: The American Conservative
    by Joseph Addington

    “Earlier this month, Daniel Ortega, the dictator of Nicaragua, announced that his country would no longer hold elections. In response, Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a statement condemning Ortega and declaring that Nicaragua ‘cannot expect to maintain business as usual with other nations when it is thwarting the basic tenets of our democratic hemisphere.’ There is no doubt that Nicaragua has suffered under the rule of Ortega and his wife Rosario Murillo, who have run the country as their personal fiefdom for nearly two decades. But Rubio’s rhetoric on Latin America increasingly resembles the neoconservatism President Trump was ostensibly elected to displace.” (07/29/26)

    https://www.theamericanconservative.com/marco-rubios-democratic-hemisphere-vs-the-national-security-strategy/

  • Anthony Fauci’s own diary proves what a despicable villain he truly is

    Source: New York Post
    by the Editorial Board

    “As COVID cases and deaths began to soar in the spring of 2020, America desperately needed a trustworthy public-health leader. Instead, we got Dr. Anthony Fauci — and now his diary entries from that time are showing just how incredibly unworthy of the nation’s trust he truly was. Time and again, his private notes contradict what he was telling the world at the very same time, and the stories he’s spun up since to protect his unearned reputation.” (07/28/26)

    https://nypost.com/2026/07/28/opinion/anthony-faucis-own-diary-proves-what-a-despicable-villain-he-truly-is/

  • Fauci Faces Perjury Risk at Senate Homeland Security Hearing

    Source: Karl Dickey’s Freedom Vanguard
    by Karl Dickey

    “Senator Paul released the Fauci diaries this week. I read the journals, and they reveal an official focused on celebrity and media praise. Fauci wrote during the 2020 lockdowns about interacting with Hollywood actors like Sean Penn and Julia Roberts. He called himself the most credible scientist in the world. He filled pages with insults aimed at Donald Trump, calling the former president an idiot and totally nuts. I expect public servants to focus on public outcomes. Fauci focused on his television appearances and fame while individual freedoms were sacrificed and small businesses collapsed. … I view this upcoming testimony as a lesson in a core libertarian truth. Harry Browne often warned that government power always grows beyond its intended limits and destroys personal freedom.” (07/29/26)

    https://palmbeachexaminer.substack.com/p/fauci-faces-perjury-risk-at-senate

  • Red Scare 3.0

    Source: CounterPunch
    by David Rosen

    “American’s first Red Scare took place from 1917 to 1921. Pres. Woodrow Wilson’s terror campaign against American radicals, dissidents, immigrants and workers makes the current Trump-Rubio effort look like a pathetic puppet show. Wilson jailed his charismatic Socialist opponent, the 63-year-old Eugene Debs, for opposing America’s descent into the carnage of the First World War. … The second Red Scare dragged on between 1947 and 1954. In 1954, Senator Joseph R. McCarthy (R-W) was at the height of his campaign against ‘communism,’ alleging that hundreds of Communists had infiltrated the State Department and other federal agencies. … Today’s Red Scare 3.0 is driven by the growing opposition to Trump’s foreign and domestic policies. Trump needs a new front to contest the opposition and give him – and his Republican Party backers, especially in Congress — a wedge they can use to fight the challenges they face. Nothing is better than an ill-defined yet omni-threatening enemy.” (07/29/26)

    https://www.counterpunch.org/2026/07/29/red-scare-3-0/

  • Ukraine’s “turned tide” doesn’t comport “with basic military reality”

    Source: Responsible Statecraft
    by Stavroula Pabst

    “Encouraged by Ukraine’s sustained advances in drone warfare, Western media is abuzz with the idea that Kyiv just might be able to defeat Russia after more than four years of bitter fighting. … But this isn’t the first time the press has played up Ukraine’s military capabilities, despite repeated setbacks on the battlefield. As experts warn RS, such coverage reinforces the idea that more military aid can still help Ukraine win back all of its territory, thus downplaying the need for a negotiated solution.” (07/29/26)

    https://responsiblestatecraft.org/ukraine-media/

  • Back in the USSR: Spending Two Weeks in a Real Socialist Country

    Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
    by Patrick Barron

    “So-called ‘Democratic Socialists’ are winning elections in America (New York City and Colorado). I’m sure that no one who either is running on a socialist platform or who voted for a socialist candidate has ever visited a real socialist country. One of the reasons is that there are not that many left. I can think only of Cuba and North Korea.” [editor’s note: Bernie Sanders honeymooned in the Soviet Union, and many American “democratic socialists” have made highly publicized trips to Cuba – TLK] (07/29/26)

    https://mises.org/mises-wire/back-ussr-spending-two-weeks-real-socialist-country

  • Punishing Trump: New War on Saudi Refineries by Iran Allies

    Source: Informed Comment
    by Juan Cole

    “he Trump administration’s 13 nights of strikes on Iran, including on bridges and energy infrastructure, have been followed by three nights of calm. The Iranians, however, clearly do not trust Trump to halt his war of aggression on their country for very long, especially with the visit to Washington, D. C. this week of Trump Whisperer, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Even Trump is complaining about Netanyahu’s loud campaign to have Trump bomb specific targets in Iran. To show what they thought about Netanyahu’s warmongering against them, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) commanders sent a barrage of missiles against covert US bases in Jordan early on Wednesday local time.” (07/29/26)

    https://www.juancole.com/2026/07/punishing-refineries-allies.html

  • The Echoing Failure of Acoustic Gunshot Detectors

    Source: Independent Institute
    by Jonathan Hofer

    “Acoustic gunshot detection (AGD) systems are designed to detect and report gunfire to law enforcement. Promoted as a high-tech solution to urban gun violence, AGD has been widely adopted by police departments across the United States, with California a leader in the number of cities that use the technology. To be considered a successful public safety innovation, a technology would be able to demonstrate effectiveness in assisting law enforcement in reducing violence and solving crimes and do so in a cost-efficient manner. However, AGD does not meet these criteria and constitutes a costly failure that undermines effective policing.” (07/29/26)

    https://www.independent.org/article/2026/07/29/the-echoing-failure-of-acoustic-gunshot-detectors/

  • I want to farm my land responsibly. That shouldn’t make me an outlaw.

    Source: Washington Post
    by Cody Peterson

    “In the 1960s, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service came to landowners across the Midwest, including the farmer who previously owned my land, with a deal. The government wanted an easement on part of the property to protect wetlands that provide habitats for ducks and other waterfowl. The agency did not offer much money. It paid about $630 for rights across roughly 328 acres of land I now own. The easement document explicitly states that farmers could continue ‘normal farming practices.’ Farmers across the northern Great Plains signed these deals. … When my family bought farmland in LaMoure County‚ the property had one of these easements on it. If the government had stuck to the agreement, the easement would not have been a big obstacle to our land management practices. But in 2024, the Fish and Wildlife Service reinterpreted the scope of the wetland easements and updated the restrictions applied to prairie potholes.” (07/29/26)

    https://archive.is/Z9KuA